NORTONVILLE, Ky. (8/21/14) — Tragedy hit the South Hopkins Fire Department on Wednesday, Aug. 6, when a call was made that there was a fire taking place in the area.

Assistant Fire Chief Blake Vaughn told SurfKY on Thursday, Aug. 7, that he was the first on the scene and called for backup. Unfortunately, by the time help came, the South Hopkins Fire Department was long gone.

The following day, ATF and the State Fire Marshal came to investigate and weren’t able to determine the exact cause of the fire.

“The State Fire Marshal and ATF have declared this fire as undetermined,” said Fire Chief Darwin Rideout. “This is unfortunate, too, we were hoping to find the source to what caused it.”

Rideout said that due to the massive amount of damage the department endured, makes determining what caused the fire very difficult.

The department lost over a million dollars’ worth of gear and equipment.

However, support throughout the state, local communities and even places out of state have given the department hope that they soon be back up and running.

For now, the department is using borrowed equipment to continue to serve their community.